PlayStation Vue: Sony enters the internet TV business

Sony today announced PlayStation Vue, an online TV service that will provide live television and on-demand content through PlayStation devices, as well as other devices. PlayStation Vue will launch on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in the first quarter of 2015, according to Bloomberg, while an iPad version is also in the works. Sony is focused on providing a service with an optimal interface -- for example, there will apparently be no channel numbers when watching live TV, but instead your most-used channels will be grouped together. The service will also learn what sort of channels and content the user likes, and then provide a personalized channel that continuously plays shows that it believes the user will want to watch. Sony is hoping to convert PlayStation users from regular cable-TV subscriptions to a PlayStation Vue sub. "This is an opportunity, in my view, to fulfill a longer goal of transforming what was in the past a dedicated game device into a proper entertainment hub, says SCE CEO Andrew House. "There is nothing in entertainment as broad as the mass-market live-TV space." The company is currently negotiating content deals in preparation for the Vue launch next year.